All Activity

Well, that's... problematic.
First off. Writing with the intent to be published, though that's kinda a pipe dream seeing as I'm a business major.
Thank you so much for the corrections.
I'm not going to defend, just going back to the drawing board.

Perhaps he just had to leave, to pull strings elsewhere?
Consider any (though not all) taken up by the Shaod are adults. I don't believe there is a pre-determined amount of time in which to become Elantrian.
I think it more likely he had to do something elsewhere and wasn't able to become Elantrian in the time he (was) allotted to do so.
Perhaps the Reod did weaken the perpendicularity. But then, how did Hoid make it there to begin with? Was he stuck on Sel for 10 years, or can you still come in through a perpendicularity that you can't leave through?

I really like Adolin. People says he falls flat, but I don't think they are looking very hard.
There are some serious curiosities about him; how is he so well adjusted despite 1) having a mostly absent father in his childhood and 2) being at a very tender age when his mother was violently murdered (even if he doesn't know the real story)? I'm really curious to see what happens when he does learn the real story.
Both with his personality and in literary ways, he's a lot like his mother. He comes off with a lot of her pure intent, which alone makes him fascinating to me since it's so rare in good fantasy. But he's also capable of killing when needed; nevertheless, the Thrill never seems to really get to him. He has a very fair balance of mother and father in him. I get the vibe that he's this warrior's son living on a battlefield, and yet emulating his mother in every way he can, which must take a lot of inner self-acceptance. Peer pressure hardly gets to him. And that fleshes him out a lot to me.
The boy doesn't have a single proud bone in his body. As has been mentioned, his storylines have a tendency to get pushed under the rug. And how does Adolin react? In a way that seems consistent to me with what we've seen at other times; he lets go of his ego completely and focuses on the other characters in the same way we do. That might make him look like he's just a plot device, but I think it's actually a part of his character design (yes, @Calderis, I'm on the boat that his focus on other characters is both intentional and fitting). He was happy but not really egotistical after defeating 4 shardbearers--he was focused on someone else's bigger purpose. He stuck himself in prison with Kaladin due to a personal moral code and did so gladly. No one was cheering for him when he got out, but he didn't care. Everyone around him, even his little brother, are becoming big-shots while he stays static, and he just cheers them on. He loved Shallan deeply and never used her status in selfish ways (not to mention his incredible ability to let her struggle and grow while helping her along just enough without being smothering or judgmental). And when he suspected someone else might be what she wanted, he gave in without a fight (even if a tad misled). Adolin is an absolute GEM. GEM GEM GEM.
He might never become a major character, but I will take as much of him as I can get.

This is a great point, and one which I was thinking about in connection with Calderis' point about showing romantic relationships at the stage beyond infatuation and attraction. I have a huge sticking point with the SKA resolution from a literary standpoint, which is I do not understand Kal's role in all this as it played out, but for the sake of argument, let's say that was satisfactorily resolved/we rewind time and not have him involved. Do I see a path forward where I could see Shadolin come around to being a satisfying romance? I think yes, but it would take a lot of work. Shallan has a lot of issues, and it wouldn't work for me to have Adolin just stand by being endlessly loving and supportive while she painfully worked through them. I think what could be good, would be a relationship pushed to breaking, with an incredibly frustrated Adolin, a Shallan who is becoming more independent (and whole), and then seeing it stitched back together. So, I think I would need a reboot. So, I guess what I feel more than anything is Shallan needs a new romance, but I could see that "new" romance being with Adolin himself if done in the right way.
Question for you if you don't mind sharing... who did you ship after WoR? I always assumed you were a Shadolin shipper going into OB, but maybe not?
I also have a lot of confusion about Shallan, and it doesn't help in all of this, it's so tied to her romantic arc (where many of us have strong opinions.) I hate when I'm worried I believe something only because of confirmation bias! I agree with parts of this but not others. I don't think she is becoming other people, but I do think she is in some ways like an actor trying on roles. We all do this to some extent - we have a work persona, a social persona, a family persona, a 17th shard persona () which likely all vary at least a bit - but Shallan takes this to a pathological level. (My interpretation is highly influenced by this WoB, as I've fit my view of Shallan into how he's describing it btw.) All of these personas are actually Shallan, just as who I am at work is me, even if I'm suppressing my contradictory side, as much as who I am out with friends is still me, even if I'm suppressing my more responsible side. There isn't a "real" me which is hidden underneath all of these, instead all of these are me, just pruned and accented in little ways to fit the situation I am in. Shallan obviously takes this to an extreme (and she most certainly views these personas as not her, hence the back stories and referring to them as different from her), but they are still all Shallan. I think this distinction is really accented when you take the intimacy part - Shallan is no less Shallan when she has dark hair and is suppressing her proper side, etc. Adolin may not be attracted to that side of Shallan, but that means that he is not attracted to part of Shallan, which is why that is a bit distressing.
Just saw you responded to the thread as I was writing! I agree with a lot of your characterization of Shallan, but I wanted to throw out this WoB regarding Adolin's perceptiveness... It's from before OB (and obviously WoBs are soft cannon), but it does line up with how I see Adolin a lot with Shallan - kind of tone deaf... not noticing her distress when asking to teach her to use her sword or when she finds out Kaladin killed Heleran, or her exhaustion when escaping from Kholinar, or focusing on her outfit when she returns after the Wit conversation (Shallan seems a bit exasperated there with her "Oh, Adolin.") But I know these things can of course be read in different ways! I wanted to highlight the things in bold, though. Adolin doesn't even know about her childhood or the source of her grief and trauma, so I find it hard to believe he could really know her. That trauma and broken childhood is so far a very central part of Shallan's character as it is presented to the reader, so I find it hard to believe anyone who doesn't have any idea of what she went through can really begin to understand her.
Ok, you convinced me. I need a thread on Pattern and Shallan. Pattern finds the lies so fascinating and yet he is distressed by them, ahhhh, I can't wrap my head around it.

The person I target for my first ability will not be notified. I checked.
Survival:
Shardic Ability - You may use your action during the Night Turn to target a player (including yourself). Until the end of the next Day Turn, that player is immune to scans and vote manipulation

This is (in my opinion) the best way to read to pick up on all the cosmere tidbits in the books.
-Khriss's Essay on Taldain, White Sand (prose first, then the graphic novels. Prose isn't canon, but is much better than the graphic novels, and contains the whole story. You can obtain White Sand prose by subscribing to Brandon's newsletter)
- Khriss's Essay on Sel, Elantris, Hope of Elantris, Emperor's Soul
- Khriss's Essay on Threnody, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell
-The Eleventh Metal, Mistborn, the Well of Ascension, Hero of Ages
-Secret History*
-Warbreaker
- Khriss's Essay on Roshar, Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Edgedancer, Oathbringer
- Khriss's Essay on Scadrial, Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, Bands of Mourning, Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania
- Khriss's Essay on Drominad, Sixth of the Dusk
- Reread Khriss's Essays
(All stories in italics are contained in Arcanum Unbounded)
*Some may argue that Secret History should be read after Bands of Mourning. I strongly disagree, but it's up to you in the end if you want to place it at the end, after Bands of Mourning.
Welcome to the Shard! Have an upvote

Autonomy requires an aspect to take her Shardic actions, so her Vessel might just want to have the ability to take these actions and is not necessarily going for an independent win condition. Additionally, we can lynch her aspects, potentially gaining a charge of Autonomy's Investiture. @Seonid, would lynching an aspect of Autonomy give a charge of Autonomy's Investiture to the players who voted for it? Since Ruin can also destroy aspects by blowing up the planet, Autonomy is probably not our current biggest threat.
Announcing that you might turn over the identities of Vessels to Odium isn't likely to make Vessels want to confide in you .
While it is highly probable that Pyromancer is Survival, I would like to have more certainty before we start passing Shards to him or using him as a hub for information. If there's a hemalurgist out there, they can try to steal Investiture from him tonight. If Pyromancer is Survival, he wouldn't lose anything and the hemalurgist would gain a chargee of Survival's Investiture. This would require 1. There exists a hemalurgist, 2. Said hemalurgist doesn't get killed or roleblocked, 3. The hemalurgist is willing to target Pyromancer, and 4. The hemalurgist will tell the truth about Pyromancer's role. None of these are certain, but extra confirmation would be nice.

Okay, I am probably going to make so many fans mad by creating this, but who cares? I think this is hilarious.
Before the garbage dumpster that was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released, I made some paragraphs detailing what might've happened to several Harry Potter characters following Deathly Hallows. I found these recently, and now I'm transcribing them here. I am not sorry for any rage you may feel. And to clear some thing up,
THE WAR OF GIANTS:
The War of Giants is an event that I created. I always wondered what had happened to the giants that aided Voldemort, so I made a battle where they return to besiege Hogwarts some years later, during James Potter's first year. Many key characters are involved in this battle, and this will be mentioned several times in the following bios. (Note: I am not including all bios in this post. I'll add more later.)
Harry Potter:
Ron Weasley:
Hermione Granger:
Ginny Weasley:
Luna Lovegood:
Neville Longbottom:
Draco Malfoy:
Dudley Dursley:
More bios later.

As far as I'm aware, the time that passes within a cadmium bubble is directly proportional to the amount of metal burned. The variance would be in the rate of dilation, and the perceived time spent inside the bubble.
Duralumin should push that dilation close to the maximum, in which the "bubble" exists for a minimal amount of time, and the time just jumps.
In contrast, you'd probably never want to do this with Bendalloy, because you're bubble would exist for only a short time and perceptively no time would pass on the outside. Not exactly optimal use there.

@Vissy (and others) Oh, yeah, that's a totally valid argument. I just tend to think Adolin is fairly perceptive concerning other people, and that in this case he sees down to who she is. Maybe I'll be surprised.
I certainly don't think he understands her perfectly well, nor do I think that we as readers know her perfectly well. But I feel like like Brandon has shown us many pieces of the real Shallan, and I feel like Adolin has put many of those together.
But, honestly, I don't think she's as complicated as she thinks she is. She's a creative artist. She's a scientist who wants to know how the world works. She likes taking risks and leaping before she thinks. She likes real-world, first-hand experience. She loves her family fiercely. She's a daydreamer. She's tough. She's a Radiant. She's a victim of abuse. She's not THAT big a mystery, in my opinion. She FEELS like a total mess, which is only natural. She doesn't understand herself in the same way that any teenage kid in her place wouldn't understand herself. She has a lot of grief to work through. She has a super weird, broken childhood to recover from. She's got a lot of trauma that needs healing.
She's also more than she thinks of herself. And is capable of more than she thinks herself capable of. Most of the "lies" aren't really lies. Shallan CAN be what Veil and Radiant are. She's just doesn't believe that of herself sometimes. The personas are just an easy way for her to deal with the hurt or fear. She takes certain qualities of herself that she needs the persona to have and leaves out the qualities that she thinks hold her back.

A USB flashdrive from high school I have in my drawer, on which I still have several embarrassing political tracts and even more embarrassing love poems I wrote. It's a reminder of how much I've come from my socially awkward past.

Sorry B.K I think that was me that spoiled you. In my defense I felt that I needed to give you something to look forward to because you were feeling very frustrated with the beginning of the book. I told you things really picked up in book 3 of Wall of Storms!

Dalinar heard the voice of the ancient temple begging to be made hole again. The voice was the spren of the temple. Did he heal the temple and there by heal the spren or did he heal the spren causing the physical effect of restoring the temple.
If the later is what is actually going on as I believe it is could this be how we restore shardblades. Make them like they once were.
We know of 2 shardblades that aren’t quite as broken as the others and both have been treated as more of a companion rather then an object for most of the last few years by their respective owners. oathbringer and adolin’s blade maya. Both of these blades have been held for long periods of time by men who have both proven to be honorable for the most of the last few years leading up to this realization.
I think that if you can treat a blade as more of a companion in some way rather than solely a weapon you can the heal them with the power of the bondsmiths.
Evidence for this is in the nature of soul casting and Stormlight healing and what we have seen from dalinars “healing” of the ancient temple.
Soul casting has a lot to do with persuasion. Convincing an object that they are/want to be something else. Stormlight healing is also about perception. If you accept something as natural or a a part of you then it cannot be healed. This is in evidence with Kaladin and his scares not healing and the tattoos not staying. With renarin’s mental disorder not healing while his sight was. And there was an explanation given at some point (I can’t remember by who at the moment) where, if an old vase is broken the individual pieces will still think of themselves as a collective vase but damaged. The thing is, when it remains broken for long enough it begins to think of it’s self as broken. Pieces of what was. Then givin more time it thinks of itself as whatever material the pieces were make of.
This might also explain why there are less shardblades than Dalinar’s visions imply there should be.
The ones that weren’t ornamented (and thus trapped) with a gem heart eventually became part of the shattered collective that is honor to be molded into a different idea or concept. I think this was touched upon when Kaladin, Shallan and adolin was trapped in shadesmar